General Question

IPod Touch Vs. NetBook Varient?

I need a small portable device for browsing the web and maybe playing some video. I have a 17” laptop and on occasion I pretend that its portable but at 10Lbs its really not. So I am thinking of ether a Net Book probably from HP or Lenovo. Or the iPod Touch, its very portable and cheep. I am open to suggestions.

Depends on how portable you want it to be I guess. I have a little MSI Wind netbook here in Iraq and it’s nice to walk to the rec center with it and use the WiFi or just use it here in my room. Definitely small and light and it’ll do basically anything a full computer will do except intensive games, etc. If you don’t mind the slightly larger size you’ll get a lot more for your money out of the netbook than the iPod. But you obviously aren’t going to fit a netbook in your pocket either.

yeah the MSI Wind is a great netbook. Also I should mention that you may be able to get free apps for the ipod, but you’re also able to download all sorts of free games on a PC, and go to sites like www.addictinggames.comwww.onemorelevel.com, and so on.

Not one of the free apps I have would be worth buying the iPod Touch over.

Please clarify “playing some video”. Do you mean web video, such as YouTube or Vimeo? Or do you mean video files you have on your computer?

It really boils down to your needs. If you don’t need any advanced web viewing, the iPod is likely your best bet. But if you have any desire to do anything advanced, such as FTPing or using any Flash application (apparently Adobe and Apple are now working together to get Flash working on the iPod Touch, but I’ll believe that when I see it working), you’ll be wanting the netbook. Since you already have one laptop though, I would recommend the iPod over the netbook.

@dynamicduo When I say some video I mean files on my computer and some youtube. It would be nice to use web video but the iPod touch won’t do that because of lack of flash. At this point I guess that I will have to get the net book. For the portability and id just does more.

I’ve also heard rumors of a hybrid series coming out from various manufacturers…the OS will be installed on a Solid State Drive, and it will also have a 2.5in hard drive for storage purposes. It is suppose to improve boot time and things like that. I’m not sure how reliable my source is though, or how expensive that model will be.

I mean, you already have a laptop…why buy another one? I know that it’s more “portable” but netbooks have so little RAM and can be really slow. My friend has one and he has trouble downloading really big files off the internet and using FTP. Heck, I have a Blackberry and THAT can do FTP.

An iPod Touch or another Wi-Fi device is much more portable. You can even do remote access on it to access all your files on your regular laptop.

I have an MSI Wind and have no problem downloading big files, doing FTP, playing World of Warcraft (though it is slow with a 128kbps connection in Iraq), etc. I would not recommend the Wind as your only computer, but for a nice cheap portable laptop it has been great. I have a big Mac Pro at home but wanted something to take to Iraq that was extra small and portable and that wouldn’t cost an arm and a leg in case it got full of sand or lost or something.

The trackpad does suck on it, it’s very small. But I just plugin a small portable USB mouse and it’s fine. The speakers are horrible, but what do you expect from a cheap little laptop. I just use headphones. Other than that it runs quite well. I watch movies on it (downloaded, as it doesn’t have an optical drive), play WoW, play other games, run Open Office, etc etc.

@seekingwolf I can guarantee the netbooks with atom processors in them are going to out perform an ipod, and a blackberry. There must be something wrong with the internet connection your friend is using, or he’s experiencing an ID 10T error.

And by very little Ram, most of them come with 1GB of DDR2, for XP that’s more than sufficient. You can even spend another 20 dollars or so to double the memory if you wanted to.

I probably wouldn’t recommend playing games like WoW on a netbook, though they might work, I don’t think I would go Raiding or running any dungeons on a netbook. Maybe auction items check mail and stuff.

I do agree with you there…it’s just IMHO, I don’t know if the improved performance is worth sacrificing portability. If one wanted to play some computer games on the go (like WoW, even though it would be really slow) then I’d go with a netbook, sure. However, if you just need to check mail, do ebay stuff, etc, that can easily be done with an iPod or a Blackberry, which fits in your pocket.

@seekingwolf You have spotted my worry with Net Books and that is would it be worth it over an iPod touch. Now the Net Books that I have found are only about $120 more then a base iPod touch. But they will do so much more. Now you also talk about it not being worth it because I already have a laptop. Did I mention that the laptop I have is really big, and runs very hot? I love that thing for gaming and its great for most other things that one does on a computer, but it would be nice to have something to take to school, Friends houses and travel. I could never get a black berry because I don’t want to pay the data fees.

Your laptop is 17’’ as well right? Wow, that’s a clunker. Mine is 15’’, so I sort of know how you feel. The reason why I say it may not be worth it if you already have a laptop is that a netbook is basically the same thing as your current laptop, but a little smaller and doesn’t do as much. Plus (I’m not sure how much this matters to you), but I’d be willing to bet that all your media, bookmarks, favourite sites, music, etc is “consolidated” on your current laptop. You may find that keeping a netbook “synced” with all of that info may be more tedious and difficult, versus an iPhone, iTouch, or a Blackberry which has syncing software.

I myself have a Blackberry, and yes, data fees stink. However, you can easily get a Wi-Fi blackberry without a plan and just use Wi-Fi for the data services. Same thing with an iPod Touch (not sure how the email is on that thing is).

I think what tehrani625 is trying to accomplish is web browsing, and watching video content. Syncing with a calendar and things like that I think are useless unless you need to be in constant touch with people through email or something (which I’d just keep a tab open for Gmail or just setup outlook on the netbook).

The screens on a netbook are far larger than that of a blackberry or ipod touch. Not to mention the ease of browsing on a small device like an ipod or blackberry. You’d get a full sized keyboard with a netbook which is far more efficient for browsing and typing emails if needed.

And for bookmarking sites, that takes me about 10 minutes tops to put in little quick book marks in my firefox browser (and I don’t sync it with my other computers).

And Netbooks aren’t even close to being the same as a laptop, you have no optical drive, you have next to no processing power in contrast using the atom (which isn’t that slow, but in comparison to an actual laptop is). You’re probably looking at a fraction of the weight too.

A netbook is a nice compromise of a laptop and pda. you get small size like a pda, but an actual OS to use and browse like a laptop. I just think an ipod and blackberry are poor choices compared to a netbook for watching video content, and a lot of browsing.

@RandomMrdan I would agree with you. Most netbooks have 1.6GHz my laptop is 1.86GHz, yes my laptop is dual core but still a net book is not that slow. I am used to slower computers. I am in love with the monster that I call a laptop, its fast and looks good. I want a net book because it can go every were and hopefully do what I need. I also want something to read PDFs for school. Does the iPod touch read PDF?

I also don’t see how a netbook is a “small size like a pda”. PDAs are much smaller then netbooks. Netbooks would be about as big (give or take) as a paper notebook, and a little heavier.

You’re also forgetting the “push email” feature of many blackberries/iphones/even ipod touches. You can get your email immediately and reply on the go. With a netbook, you’ll have to boot up and then check.

With video, yes, the netbook is best for that, while phones are good for watching a little youtube here and there. It’s a matter of preference.

I think an iPod Touch will serve you really well for what you need. A netbook would be much easier and more flexible in terms of manipulating text and doing email, but if you mostly want a portable media machine, by all means cut the weight and bulk (and get the best media player out there, as well).

i would go with ipod touch because i would want a easier portable item in case i am in a hurry and dont have enough time to gather all of my cords like the power cord for instence i am on my HP netbook (mini laptop) and i have a little trouble finding places with easy to access power outlets so there fore i rather have a ipod touch. and if u get a net book it will be harder to lose and harder to break but like i said a ipod is easier to travel with and easier to keep up with 1 cord instead of 2 cords that contect and an ipod touch is easier to break i am only 11 so you can ignore my thought if you would like but i would think about what i have just written.